


Not A Participation Game

by Shipsorsanity



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Blade of Marmora Keith (Voltron), Canon Divergence, Chapter titles are the worst, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Galra Keith (Voltron), Insecure Lance (Voltron), Keith (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, Keith and Lance have a bonding moment, Keith/Lance (Voltron) Angst, Kuron is Shiro (Voltron)'s Clone, Let me know if you think the rating should be changed, M/M, One-Sided Lance/Lotor, Pining Lance (Voltron), Possible Character Death, character death but not really, one-sided lancelot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-08
Updated: 2018-09-09
Packaged: 2019-05-19 15:40:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 17,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14876594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shipsorsanity/pseuds/Shipsorsanity
Summary: When Lance talked to Keith about his insecurities, the last thing he expected was for Keith to step out of Voltron so Lance could pilot the Red Lion. Lance goes to talk to Keith again, and they start to get more comfortable with each other.Takes place directly after season 3(Be sure to check out Not A Participation Game -- Extended by writingbymoonlight after reading this!)





	1. Everyone’s Tired and Lance Has Questions

**Author's Note:**

> Moving this here from Wattpad

After the battle with Lotor and the story of how Voltron was created, the exhausted Paladins went to their rooms to destress except for Hunk. His preferred method of relaxation was baking a meal for everyone, and nobody was about to complain.

Everyone had their own ways of relaxing. Lance would have preferred to listen to music and fall asleep, but since Pidge stole back her headphones the week before, it wasn't possible. He walked to his room. He decided that he had nothing to do there and went to the kitchen to bake with Hunk.

As soon as Lance stepped through the kitchen doors, Hunk said, "Hey Lance, you know usually I like it when you keep me company while I bake, but right now I kinda need to be alone."

Lance wasn't too surprised. He'd seen Hunk like this the day before they got their final test scores.  "No problem, buddy!" Lance said, "Just  call me when it's ready, okay?" He heard Hunk hum in response and he left the kitchen.

On the way back to his room, he passed Keith, who looked grumpy as ever. _Shiro must have made him stop training_ , Lance thought. It never made much sense to him why Keith would spend his time training when he could take a much needed break.

Then he remembered something that's been bothering him since the start of their last mission. Something that had to do with Keith. Although he didn't want to bother Keith and possibly make him even angrier, Lance's curiosity blocked out his impulse control and he turned around.

"Hey, Keith?" Lance asked, half expecting to be punched in the face. Keith turned to face Lance and crossed his arms.

"What do you want?" Keith asked. Lance noticed immediately by the tone in Keith's voice that whatever he was mad about, he wasn't going to take it out on Lance.

"I was just wondering...why did you volunteer to stay on the Castleship earlier?" Lance asked. After a few seconds of silence, Lance started to ramble in an attempt to fill it. "I mean. I would think you'd want to get back to Red because you miss her-"

"Lance."

"Like, I'm just assuming because I miss Blue, and I'm not saying I don't like Red I love her -"

"Lance."

"It's just that you're probably the best pilot here, and you should have been the last person to stay back, especially since I was-"

"LANCE." Keith said firmly, placing a hand on Lance's shoulder. Lance stopped rambling and made eye contact with Keith.

Keith said "I told you not to worry about being left out."

"But it doesn't make any strategic sense!" Lance protested. "I told you. This is war. We have to win for the universe, and I can't be holding the team back. Did you risk all that just to make a point?"

Keith shook his head. "Lance, you need to get it out of your head that you're the weakest link."

"But I-"

"No. You're not. The Blue Lion and the Red Lion chose you because they saw your strengths. I had you go out with the team because I knew you would be useful out there. And you were."

Lance stopped interrupting Keith.

Keith said, "I did what was best for the team. Aside from being a talented pilot, you're our sharpshooter. We need you out on the field with us."

Lance was speechless. Keith realized that his hand was still on Lance's shoulder and pulled it back. Neither spoke for a long time.

Finally, after several long minutes, Lance said, "That...makes more sense. Thanks, Keith."

"No problem," responded Keith. Another few seconds of silence followed. Keith said "Well, go relax. We need our sharpshooter to be well rested."

Lance smiled and the two of them started heading in opposite directions. Before they got too far, Lance called out, "Hey, Keith?" Keith turned his head.

"You get some rest too, we need our leader to make quick decisions."

Lance thought he saw a smile on Keith's face before he turned back.

Lance went to his room and collapsed on his bed, wrapping himself in his blanket. He fell asleep soon after.


	2. Midnight Snacks

Although he felt like he could sleep for a week when he went to bed, Lance woke up at the equivalent of 2:30 am to his stomach growling. Slightly angry and still half asleep, Lance stumbled out of his room and towards the kitchen to get a snack.

Lance was mostly awake by the time he got to the kitchen. He grabbed some leftovers of whatever alien thing Hunk baked and made his way back to the room. He tried to ignore how spooky the lighting of the castle was when it was in its night cycle. He was no longer tired enough to ignore it.

As Lance was walking, he saw a bright light coming from one of the halls. His curiosity got the best of him and he went to see what it was. He soon found out that the light was coming from the training deck.

He opened the doors to find Keith fighting several Gladiator robots. Lance sighed. He should have known that Keith would just go back to training.

"End training sequence," Lance yelled, and as a result the robots disappeared, leaving a stunned and confused Keith in the middle of the room.

"Hey, what was that for?" Keith asked angrily.

Lance put his hand on his hip and said "You said you were going to bed hours ago. You shouldn't be pushing yourself over your limits like this, especially when you're sleep deprived."

"Who are you, Shiro?" responded Keith in a mocking tone. "I'm fine. I know my limits."

Keith walked over to Lance to make his point clear, but he tripped on his way. Luckily, Lance was close enough to catch him. Keith was almost passed out.

"Yeah, you're exhausted." Lance said. "I'm taking you to your room and you're sleeping the rest of the night." Keith didn't respond. His eyes were only slightly open. After ten seconds, Keith nodded.

Lance looped Keith's arm around his neck and let Keith rest on him as they walked. When they left the training deck, Keith's stomach growled loudly and Lance shook his head in disbelief. "Come on man, didn't you at least grab something to eat first?"

After taking a few seconds to process the question, Keith shook his head. Lance sighed and took them to Keith's room. When they got there, Lance gave Keith the snack he took for himself earlier.

"Eat this," Lance said, "then go to sleep. We'll talk about why you can't train until you pass out after you wake up." Keith nodded slowly in response, then took a bite of the pastry. Lance could tell that he was starting to nod off. He left Keith's room.

Lance went back to the kitchen to grab himself another snack and went back to his own room. He hoped Allura would be kind enough to let everyone sleep in a few hours in the morning. He knew that Keith needed it.

He pushed aside the part of him that wondered why he cared so much about Keith's wellbeing and focused on going to sleep.


	3. Keith Needs a Lesson in Priorities

Lance woke up on his own. He was fully rested, and he was ready for whatever the day brought on. _Allura must have decided to let us sleep in_ , he thought. He got out of bed and walked towards the kitchen to get breakfast.

Lance wasn't the first one up. That honor went to Shiro, who probably should have stayed in bed longer. When Lance suggested that he go back to sleep, Shiro said "Before Kerberos, I had no problem waking up and that was because of my strict sleep schedule. I'm trying to fix it."

Pidge and Hunk were also up, making breakfast and chattering about technology. They waved hello to Lance, but didn't stop their technical talk.

Allura was drinking a mug of the Altean equivalent to coffee, and was talking to Coran about what their next plan should be.

Lance scanned the room with his eyes, but he couldn't find Keith. _Hopefully he's still sleeping_ , he thought. Then he decided he should probably make sure that Keith wasn't overexerting himself again and went to the training room.

Lance was relieved to find the training room empty and looking how he left it the night before. He started his way back to the kitchen and when he passed Keith's door, it opened.

Keith stood in the doorway, looking unusually well rested. His hair was a mess, which Lance noticed was unusual. Lance realized that this meant that Keith's hair was always nice before now, and he pushed the thought to the back of his head to greet Keith.

"How're you doing buddy?" Lance asked.

Keith yawned and said "kinda tired. But I'm not going to spend all day napping."

Lance smiled and said "Well, you look a lot better than you did last night. You were passing out every three seconds."

"Yeah..."

"Why'd you train that much anyway?"

Keith took a moment before responding with "We have to win this war, and we can't do that unless we're the best we can possibly be. I need to train so I can be strong enough to hold my own."

"What, against an entire army?"

Keith tilted his head in confusion. "What do you mean?" He asked.

Lance said "you're already the best fighter on the team. Have you seen yourself in combat? It's pretty intense and kinda awesome. And Shiro told us about you fighting all of those Marmorites at their base. Trust me, you're the last person who needs to worry about training."

Keith didn't say anything for a long time. Lance could see the confusion on his face from his rival complimenting him. Lance didn't think it was that big of a deal. He was just stating facts that Keith was too oblivious to figure out.

When Keith spoke, he said "I could still be better, though." He spoke in a soft voice and was looking at the ground.

"Well, duh." Lance said. "We all could. That's the thing about this kind of stuff. There's always ways to improve and we could always be better than we are now. But you know what?"

Keith looked up.

"You're good enough."

Lance saw a ghost of a smile cross Keith's face as he leaned against the doorway.

Lance said "You're like, way past good enough on the scale. But you get my point? You don't need to spend all this time training like you think you do. Taking breaks is necessary and way more important than training."

Keith didn't say anything. He just looked at his shoes.

Lance said "come on Sleeping Beauty, Hunk's making breakfast and we don't want to be stuck with eating food goo."

Keith said "Alright. Just let me get ready first."

The two boys turned away from each other, but Keith turned back. "Hey Lance?" He said.

"Yeah?" Lance asked.

"Thanks. For everything." Keith said.

Lance smiled. "Anytime, dude. See you at the kitchen."

"See you."


	4. Keith’s Gone. Now What?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter takes place after Voltron season 4 episode 1. I'm not going to follow the rest of the season's storyline, though. I'm just going to take this episode and run with it. Basically, all that's happened as far as this story's concerned is that Keith's with the Blade of Marmora and Shiro's the pilot of the Black Lion again.

As much as Lance didn't want to admit it, he missed Keith. It's been, judging by the day and night cycles, roughly three weeks since Keith left Voltron, two and a half weeks since he last contacted them, and fifteen minutes since Lance thought about him last.

Without Keith, the team was different. It didn't work as well. Shiro was especially different. The first time they had a Voltron training session with Shiro subbing in for Keith, it was a nightmare.

Keith was impulsive and could be reckless, but he also listened to his teammates for strategies and heard them when they told him he was going too far or doing too much on his own. He gave general instructions that allowed each team member to improvise and experiment.

Shiro, on the other hand, needed a carefully thought out plan before attacking. He gave everyone instructions and scolded them if they didn't do as he had ordered. He knew there was strength in numbers, and he wanted each of them to perform the best that they could.

It's not like Shiro was a bad leader. He was a good leader for when they first started forming Voltron. The four other Paladins needed his instruction because they were in a new situation. Shiro was the most experienced out of all of them, and the team needed to be told what to do and how to do it because they didn't have the knowledge.

Now, however, the team worked well together under pressure. With Keith leading them, they were able to judge for themselves what needed to be done after he told them what guards to take down or where to find the information they were getting.

The difference between Shiro and Keith is how they view the team. Shiro saw Team Voltron as, well, Voltron. The team should act as one being to serve the same purpose. If someone doesn't do their job, the team won't work. The strengths and weaknesses of the team were an important part of strategy. Shiro was a master of strategy, and everyone knew it. They couldn't argue with him if they tried. Keith, however, saw the five Lions of Voltron. Individuals united under one purpose. He understands that there are multiple solutions to a problem, and that each of the Paladins is capable enough to figure out their own solution. And if they were stuck, they had the team to help them. Keith sometimes got carried away in his own plan, but the team was always there to be his impulse control if he needed.

Lance found himself ranting about this often. Never to Shiro, of course, but Hunk's heard it a few times, as has Pidge. Lance even ranted to Coran and Allura once. Each time he apologized for rambling, said he wasn't serious, and blamed it on lack of sleep.

When they were on missions, Lance often found himself wanting to playfully make fun of Keith or say something like "Hey, did you see that shot, Keith?" Before he realized that Keith wasn't there anymore.

Although Keith couldn't contact them directly, they occasionally received word about the status of  Marmora's missions. They usually knew which one Keith would be on, and every day, Lance-along with the rest of the team-would hope that the mission that Keith was on didn't fail. At the very least, they hoped there weren't any casualties.

One day, Allura let the Paladins sleep in. Lance, as soon as he woke up and realized this, was a bit worried. Whatever was happening next, the team needed to be well rested for. Lance hoped that it wasn't another mission that involved 36 hours without sleep.

When Lance arrived to the team meeting and saw that Allura was wearing her diplomatic clothes rather than her Paladin armor, he was relieved. They weren't about to be shot into the middle of a Galran fleet.

When all the Paladins arrived, Allura said, "The Blade of Marmora has been hard at work. As you know, a large group of their members, including Keith, have focused their efforts on these star systems here." She pulled up a hologram of the galaxy and zoomed in on a cluster of stars, each with at least two planets with intelligent life, all of which were taken over by the Galra.

Allura continued, "They decided to coordinate with each other and attempt to throw the Galra Empire out of these systems. There were a lot of sacrifices. Many died fighting for the cause, but we were successful."

"Did Keith make it?" Lance asked.

Allura either didn't hear him or ignored him. She turned and said "The systems are throwing a party to celebrate their liberation, and the Voltron Paladins and the Blades are to be the honored guests."

Nobody said anything except for Lance, who said "Okay, but what about Ke-"

Allura, cutting him off, said "I was pondering about what we should wear, but I believe we should go in our Paladin armor rather than normal clothes. Besides making us recognizable, it will also allow us to react quickly if there's any danger."

"Allura–" Lance started, irritated and fearful about the reason she didn't want to mention Keith.

Allura cut Lance off again and began rambling, saying, "Of course there's no reason we'd be in danger, it should be a calm and relaxing party."

Allura saw the serious faces of her fellow Paladins and stopped talking. She looked away.

Lance said, "Allura, if Keith died, we want to know. Hiding it from us isn't going to change that." The Paladins nodded in agreement.

Lance continued, "So, did he? Die?"

Allura sighed and said "I don't know. The messages I received never said anything about Keith. All we can do is hope he's alive. I'm sure we'll be able to find out at the party."

Shiro spoke up and said "I'm sure Keith's fine. He's a skilled fighter, and pilots better than anyone I've ever seen."

Everyone nodded in agreement with Shiro, and Allura said "Well, we must prepare ourselves for the party. We'll be arriving shortly."

Lance didn't understand why nobody was trying to get information about Keith. Especially Shiro, who knew Keith better and knew him much longer than anyone else.

"I don't know, I guess I just think it's weird that when Shiro went missing, Keith flipped out, and now that we don't know what happened to Keith, Shiro's just like 'nah, he'll be fine' like, isn't that a little weird?" Lance asked Pidge and Hunk as they were getting breakfast.

  
Hunk shrugged. He said, "I don't know, man. Maybe Shiro's just hiding how he feels."

"Wouldn't have Shiro asked about Keith first though?" Lance asked,

"I don't think you gave him the chance," said Pidge, jokingly. "Besides, like Shiro said, Keith won't go down without a fight. If he did die, he would have probably taken down an entire ship with him, and we would have heard about that."

Lance feigned relief and said "You know? You're probably right. Thanks Pidge. And Hunk." Lance stood up. "Now, I've got to go prepare for the ladies at the party."

Right on cue, Pidge rolled her eyes. Lance left the kitchen and as soon as he got to his own room, he stopped hiding his worry. Sure Keith could fight, but Lance had once overheard Kolivan giving Keith a lecture.

 _In the Blade of Marmora, we don't go back for others. This isn't Voltron_ , Kolivan had said.

Lance knew how the Blade of Marmora worked. Their missions had to be as stealthy as possible, and going back for others would let them be discovered. Lance also listened to Keith talk about Thace, the Galra who sacrificed himself to bring down Zarkon's ships' power. Keith talked about another Galra who delayed a bomb's explosion so the rest of the team could get away.

Lance wasn't worried about Keith, exactly. He knew that Keith was perfectly capable of fighting on his own. No, Lance was afraid of the Blade of Marmora's obsession with self sacrifice, and how many of its members had died because of it.

He was afraid that the Blade of Marmora would have trained Keith to sacrifice himself for the mission.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I posted the first four chapters at once to get the story started sooner, but after this, I’ll post one chapter at a time. I’m not completely sure how often I’ll post, but it’ll hopefully be regular.


	5. Good Times™ at the Party

Lance looked like he was having a great time at the party. He was talking to as many people as he could, and he was flirting with many of them. He was taking selfies with the guests and cracking jokes.

A loud voice boomed across the area. It wasn't unusual, it was just someone announcing something to the guests. This time, the voice announced the arrival of another Blade of Marmora ship. The ships had been arriving throughout the night, so by now Lance had a routine.

Lance would meet up with the rest of the Paladins as the ship landed. Together, they would watch soldiers walk out of the ship. Lance would watch for Keith and be disappointed when he didn't see him. Afterward, Lance would converse with some of the Blades and help them merge with the rest of the party.

This time was no different. Keith didn't arrive. Lance masked his disappointment. After all, he was celebrating the liberation of several star systems. He wasn't going to ruin the party for the guests.

Another few ships came. Keith wasn't on those, either. There weren't many ships that were still on their way. Kolivan arrived on one of these ships, and asked to speak privately with the Paladins.

"How many more ships are on their way?" Allura asked.

"Only three more large ones." Kolivan answered. "After that, there will be some scattered fighters arriving alone."

Silence. Nobody knew how to break it. Each of the Paladins wanted to know if Keith made it, but they didn't know how to ask. After a few moments, Shiro asked "So, what are you here to tell us?"

Kolivan sighed. "There is no easy way to say this. Keith has always been a determined and skilled member of the resistance. This battle was no different. He sacrificed himself for our victory."

Lance felt like sobbing. He was right to be worried about Keith. He looked over to his teammates, who all looked shocked and on the verge of tears, except for Shiro. Shiro's jaw was clenched and his hands were tight fists.

"What happened." Shiro demanded.

Kolivan said, "The shields were up on the main ship. Our hackers couldn't get them down. Keith said he knew a way to fix the problem. He flew straight toward the shield, and it went down. We don't know what happened for sure. There's a slight chance he escaped or was captured by the Galra Empire, but... most likely, he died."

Nobody said anything. Lance felt like his heart had been ripped out, but he knew he couldn't react. He was a public figure at an event, and even though he was in private at the moment, he would have to go face the crowd eventually. If he let anything out now, he wouldn't recover his cool until after the party.

This was one of the moments where Lance remembered that this wasn't a game. This is war. People die. They aren't immune to death just because you care about them. Everyone has a job to do, and Keith did his. Now it was Lance's turn to do his own job.

Lance looked to his team, then to Kolivan, and he said, "Thanks for telling us, Kolivan." Then Lance turned to leave.

"Lance? Where are you going?" Allura asked.

Lance looked back at her and the rest of the team and said "I'm going to do my job. We're here to give hope to these people. Tomorrow we'll mourn Keith, but right now, these people need a reason to continue fighting. I'm going to help them find one."

Lance walked out of the room and went back to the party. Chatting up aliens, laughing with people, taking selfies, all that kind of stuff. The other Paladins eventually joined the party one by one. By the time the next three ships arrived, the five Paladins were there to greet them.

Keith wasn't on any of them.


	6. Awesome Party, I'm So Glad I Came

Hours passed, and the celebration was still going strong. Lance had noticed that some of the Blades didn't take off their hood or mask near the beginning of the party. He wondered why, but shrugged it off. After hours of wondering, however, Lance's curiosity got the best of him. He left the group he was with–after a selfie, of course–and looked around for Kolivan.

As he was looking, Lance noticed a Blade standing by themself, just outside the light from the party. They were away from everyone else, looking out at the landscape. Lance walked over to bring them to the party, and also ask why they had their hood up.

"Mind if I stand out here with you?" Lance asked. The Blade looked at him, shrugged, and stepped to the side. Lance moved next to them.

"All partied out?" The Blade asked.

Lance smiled and said "Nah, I just wondered what a wallflower as lovely as yourself was doing out here."

The Blade stuttered for a bit before saying "I'm a guy?"

Lance shrugged and said "Looks like we have a lot in common."

"But I saw you flirting with a bunch of girls?"

"You noticed me?" Lance said, smirking.

The Blade said "I–that–you're a Paladin? There's only five of you and you're color-coded?"

"Sure," Lance said, winking.

"You're infuriating." The Blade said, folding his arms.

"You haven't decked me yet so I can't be that annoying."

The Blade chuckled. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

The two looked out at the scenery, but Lance quickly looked up at the stars. Not a single recognizable constellation in sight.

"Hey, why do you still have your mask and hood on?" Lance asked. "I noticed most of your buddies don't have them on."

"Orders from the top," the Blade said. "Protect identity, be prepared, blah blah blah."

Lance laughed a little. "Sounds like you're not too happy with that."

The Blade shrugged. "Got you to notice me, didn't it?"

Lance opened his mouth to retaliate, but couldn't think of anything to say. Instead he smiled and said "Okay, you got me."

"So, why are you wearing your battle armor to a party?" The Blade asked.

"You know, get recognized, be prepared, blah blah blah."

The two talked for a long time about little things. Eventually, they sat down, and because they were both new to the area, they made up constellations.

Suddenly, a bright light appeared in the sky. Lance's eyes widened as it came closer and he saw that it was a Blade of Marmora ship. Hope filled his chest.

_Keith._


	7. Falling Like Ashes to the Ground, Hoping my Feelings, They Would Drown

Lance got up from the ground and followed the ships' movements with his head, but then realized something. The ship was making an awkward entry. The pilot must have been new to flying. Lance'a heart sank as he himself sank back to the ground.

"You looking for someone?" The Blade asked.

Lance sighed. "Yeah."

"How do you know if he's not the pilot?"

"This guy's having trouble landing," Lance explained. "The one I'm waiting for is a lot more skilled. He does everything perfect, he's the best pilot I know."

"Sounds like you knew him well," the Blade said.

Lance shrugged. "I guess so. He wasn't really one to make friends, but I like to think that's what we were."

"Well, if he's as good of a pilot as you say he is, I'm sure he made it."

Lance smiled. He appreciated that the Blade was trying to help him feel better.

"So how does a Paladin like you know a Blade member well enough to know how he flies?" The Blade asked.

Lance answered, "We went to flight school together. He was the best one there by far, and everyone said he was the best pilot of his generation."

"Was he?"

"Oh no doubt. But then we kinda became Paladins of Voltron, and left our planet with some of the others. He eventually joined the Blade of Marmora because he's also super good at fighting and all that stuff."

"Oh, you mean Keith?" The Blade asked.

"Yeah," Lance said, "do you know him?"

The Blade said "Sort of. I know about him, and I've gone on missions with him before. To be honest, he's not that impressive."

Lance sat up so he could face the Blade and said "What are you talking about? Keith's the best fighter I've ever known! He spends every waking minute training and I've seen him take out twenty sentries without even breaking a sweat!"

After a moment of stunned silence, the Blade laughed. "I was just joking. There's a reason he reached one of the top ranks in such a short amount of time. But with the way you defended him, it sounds like you might have a crush on him."

Lance didn't need to think about it. He knew that he wished he and Keith could be more than friends. He would be lying if he said he'd never considered trying some of his less cheesy pick up lines on him.

"Wait. Do you actually-" the Blade started, stopping when he saw the serious look on Lance's face.

"Yeah." Lance said. "I think I do." In reality, Lance knew that he liked Keith without a doubt. It would have been embarrassing to flat out admit it to a stranger, though.

Then Lance remembered about Keith. The reason he was looking for him. "Or at least, I did." He said softly.

"What do you mean?" The Blade asked.

"Kolivan told us that Keith sacrificed himself to get the shields down," Lance said. He wanted to say more, but he had to force his tears in.

"Oh," the Blade said softly. "And you were hoping that he'd be one of the stragglers."

Lance nodded. "I was worried about this."

"What?" The Blade asked.

Lance said "The Blade of Marmora kinda glorifies self sacrifice. And Keith's really impulsive and acts on the first thought he has if he thinks it'll work. Combine the two, and you get..."

"A preventable tragedy." The Blade finished.

Lance nodded. He felt tears go down his face. He wiped them away. "Did you...did you see him? Do you know if he made it?" He asked.

The Blade didn't answer right away. He took Lance's hand and although his face was masked, Lance knew that he was looking him in the eye. The Blade said "I didn't see him. But there's no doubt in my mind that you'll meet again."

Lance smiled, and he felt tears coming again. "Thank you," he said.

Lance and the Blade spent the rest of the party enjoying each other's company. When the Blade's hand touched Lance's, Lance smiled and held it. They inched closer to each other as they talked, neither noticing or caring.

The sun was just below the horizon, which signified that the party was coming to an end. Lance only now realized how close he was to the Blade, and he didn't want to leave yet. He needed some comfort in his life.

"I have to go with the others," the Blade said, not sounding too happy about that. He stood up and helped Lance up.

"Don't leave," Lance said, barely above a whisper. He shook his head as he realized how immature he sounded. "No," Lance said, "you have to go."

"Kiss me?" The Blade requested, not sounding too sure of himself. Lance nodded, but realized that he couldn't. He touched the Blade's face mask. "Close your eyes," the Blade told him.

Lance did as he was told. After waiting for no longer than one second, a pair of lips that were definitely not human met his. That didn't matter to Lance, though. What mattered is who they were attached to. After only a short moment, the Blade pulled away and put on the mask.

"Will we see each other again?" Lance asked, wanting the answer to be yes, but knowing that it wouldn't be likely.

The Blade was almost definitely smiling when he said "Yes. I'll make sure of it." He squeezed Lance's hand, turned, and ran to the other Blade members. Lance went back to the other Paladins.


	8. Denial isn't Just a River in Egypt

"Keith was captured by the Galran fleet."

Shiro spoke these words with conviction. They were the first words to break the silence that started on the trip back to the castle. The Paladins were now inside the control room, having just got back. As the Paladins took of their helmets, they looked at Shiro.

Shiro hadn't taken his helmet off. His fists were clenched and his brow furrowed, and his eyes were focused as if he was staring at something light years away instead of at the floor.

"I'm sure of it."

Lance looked around the room at the others. He made eye contact with Pidge and silently urged her to say something by nodding at Shiro. She nodded and walked a few steps in Shiro's direction.

"Why do you think that?" Pidge asked.

Shiro didn't move. Lance doubted he blinked. Shiro said "Keith isn't dead."

This time, Allura took a step foreword and asked "How do you know this?"

Shiro clenched and unclenched his jaw. "If he got anywhere near the force field, the Galrans would have stopped him before he could do any damage." Shiro looked up and gasped slightly, as if he had just realized something. "That's it, they must have captured him and taken down the shield to trick us! They wanted us to think that Keith was dead so we wouldn't look for him."

Shiro sped over to the computer, haphazardly combing through the transmissions that Pidge hacked.

The others looked at each other in stunned silence as Shiro searched. They didn't know what to do except crowd behind Shiro to see what he was doing.

After frantically scanning for a few minutes, Shiro stood up and pointed. "There."

Pidge read the transcript. It was recent, probably from the last few hours of the party, and it was between two off-duty Galran soldiers. They talked about the most recent gladiator fight, and what they were hoping for the next one. One mentioned that he heard that there was going to be a recently captured prisoner in the ring, one who put up quite the fight while being captured. The other sounded interested and the two started placing bets on what would happen.

"Look Shiro," Lance said, "I want to believe that Keith's alive and we know where he is. We all do. But the odds of that being Keith..."

Shiro turned to face Lance. "I know they're slim, but that has to be Keith. Did you hear how the soldiers described him?"

Pidge looked closer at the screen to find the exact words. She said, "Temperamental, put up a fight, skilled. That does sound like Keith."

Hunk chimed in, "Well, yeah, but doesn't that also describe, like, a ton of people who get captured and made prisoners? None of them are happy about it, some of them must fight."

"Shiro," Allura said softly, "there's nothing but our own hope telling us that we know where Keith is. And it would be far too dangerous for us to do anything about it."

"What about when you were captured?" Shiro asked Allura. "What makes that different?"

"We knew Allura was alive," Lance said.

"We knew exactly where Allura was," Pidge added.

"We had the element of surprise," Hunk said.

Shiro was displeased. "But-"

"And you shouldn't have saved me because it was a trap that resulted in splitting up the lions and almost gave Zarkon complete control over Voltron," Allura said. "It was far too dangerous."

Shiro closed his eyes and stood up. Everyone took a few steps back. Shiro started walking toward the door. "When I find Keith," he said, "don't be surprised if he feels betrayed." Then he left. Lance thanked the lack of a slammable door.

It's hard to say who started crying first after reality came back. Lance assumed it was himself.

Then he heard Pidge sniff, and he just had to bring her into a tight hug. Hunk stopped holding back his sobs and joined in. Allura followed soon after.

The four of them lost track of time. They were grieving together. When they felt exhausted, they just sat together. Eventually, they started sharing memories they had of Keith. They each worked to comfort the others, and each was comforted.

Pidge was the first to fall asleep. Then everyone realized how tired they were. They said goodnight to each other and Hunk dropped Pidge off at her room.

Lance stopped just short of his room.  _Keith's room is right there_.

Lance remembered the night where he had to drag Keith back from the training deck to get sleep. Lance smiled and continued to his own room.

Sleep didn't come easily, but it came, and for that Lance was grateful.


	9. Voltron Scatters

The next few days after the party were calm. There wasn't much activity from the Galra Empire. The Paladins weren't needed to go on missions or defend the castle. They just had time to be themselves.

Lance and Pidge showed off the video game they got from the space mall, and Allura was immediately captivated with it. She begged to play and although she didn't understand the game completely, she was having fun.

Allura showed the others a similar Altean concept once they moved on. She said it was a way to get Altean children to learn to be light on their feet while having fun.

Lance called it "Space DDR."

After they were tired out, Hunk suggested dinner. He introduced Allura to the concept of pizza. Although she had her doubts about the flat disk with seemingly random ingredients sprinkled on, Allura took bite after bite until she finished half of the pizza.

Lance, Hunk, Pidge, and Allura made a large blanket fort that they eventually fell asleep in.

The next day was similar. The four of them enjoyed each other's company all day.

There was only one problem. Shiro was nowhere to be seen in all of this. He'd been in the control room scanning through transcripts and looking for evidence that Keith was still alive. Shiro took every piece of evidence that could in some way be related to Keith and linked them all together and discovered nothing except the date and coordinates of the next gladiator match.

Shiro called the other Paladins to the control room to announce what he had found. He also said that there was nothing they could do to stop him from going after the lead.

After a long silence, Allura said "I know I can't stop you. Take a pod and all the rations you need." She placed a hand on Shiro's arm. "We wish you luck."

Shiro's eyes widened in surprise, as if he didn't expect the conversation to go that well. "Thank you, Princess," he said, smiling. After a brief farewell, he left.

Later, Pidge was working on her computer when she found a strong lead on Matt. She excitedly showed the other Paladins, who shared in her excitement.

Not long after, Pidge set off in the Green Lion to find Matt.

Allura, Coran, Hunk, and Lance decided to make their way towards the Space Mall since there wasn't much to do but wait for the other two Paladins to come back.

While they were on their way, the Blade of Marmora requested a Paladin to help on one of their missions. Lance, who had been getting restless around the castle, volunteered and set off in the Red Lion.

Lance was sent to an unoccupied moon near a decent sized Galran Hub, where some Blades set up camp and would give him more information about the mission. He was happy to have something to do again.


	10. Lance Prepares for Mission: Not Impossible

Lance landed his lion near the campfire that was set up. When he got out, he saw three Blades, all with their masks on. One stood, watching the fire, one sat on a log next to the fire, and the third was just emerging from the shelter. Lance jogged to them and waved, saying, "Hey guys, what's up?"

The Blade that came out of the tent approached Lance and held his hand out to shake Lance's. "We're grateful that you were able to come on such short notice."

"Oh yeah, no problem,"Lance said, looking up at the Blade, who was at least two feet taller than him.

The Blade brought Lance inside the shelter–what appeared to be a large and sturdy tent–and showed him a table that had a map of the hub they were invading. The other two blades, who were not quite as tall as the first, entered shortly after Lance.

"First things first," the tallest Blade said, "We'll call each other by code names. It's the new protocol to establish complete anonymity during missions. On this mission, we will address each other by colors. You can call me Gray."

"I'm Red," said the shortest Blade, who had been the one standing by the campfire. "I mean, my code name is Red."

"Call me Green," said the last Blade. He had been the one sitting near the fire.

Lance looked between the three of them and nodded slowly to himself. "Alright, then. Gray, Red, and Green. And what color will I be?"

"Blue," piped up Red. Gray looked at Red, then nodded. Lance thought there was something familiar about Red, but shrugged it off.

"Yes," Gray said, turning to Lance, "You will be called Blue from now on."

Gray then went on to describe the mission in three stages.

The first stage was getting in. It was Green's job to shut down security and get them inside while the others took care of the guards. Gray made it very clear to only stun them.

The second stage was getting any information they could and corrupting any data on the Coalition. Here, they would split up and do what they could. Green gave them flash drive-like devices that would do the job.

The third stage was getting out. Optimistically, the four of them would remain unnoticed for the full–Lance guesses–3 hours that they planned for. If any one of them was to be discovered, they would all retreat and do what they could individually to get back to the base without being followed.

After reviewing the plan and going over specifics, Gray announced that they would go after they rested for the night. Lance walked outside with Red and Green. Having nothing to do, the three of them stood by the fire.

They stood in silence, as none of them really knew what to say. After a few minutes, Green decided that he had enough of standing around and said he should go double-check the flash drives. Lance and Red remained by the fire.

"So...Red...what's up with these code names?" Lance asked.

"Oh you know," Red said, "orders from the top, protect our identities, blah blah blah."

It took Lance a moment before he realized where he heard that before. He did a double-take at Red as he remembered the party. Red and the wallflower were the same height, both a little shorter than him. Now that Lance realized it, they both sounded the same.

"You–the party–" Lance started, barely able to keep his thoughts together. Red nodded, and Lance couldn't help but smile.

"I'm glad you accepted the mission," said Red. "If another had shown up, I'd have given them a message for you. But now you're here."

Red kept looking at Lance for a second, then looking away. Lance thought it was cute. He touched Red's hand and Red's head snapped up to meet his eyes.

"Thanks for talking with me at the party, by the way," Lance said in a soft voice.

Red turned his head slightly. "You were the one to approach me," he said. "I was just doing what anyone would have done."

Lance cupped Red's head in his hand. "You did more than that," Lance said, half-whispering as the distance between them shrunk. "You listened."

Red and Lance spent most of the night talking and enjoying each other's company. Eventually they moved from standing to sitting against a log near the fire. Sometime while Lance was explaining his frustration at Shiro and how he was leaving the team for a dangerous mission for practically no reason, Red rested his head on Lance's shoulder. Lance smiled and rested his head on Red's. "Go on," Red said after a few moments of silence, "I'm listening."

Lance couldn't put into words how much he appreciated having Red with him.


	11. Let the Bullets Fly, Let Them Rain

Lance didn't realize he fell asleep until he woke up with Red practically in his arms. He blinked slowly. He felt something bump his leg. Lance looked up to find Green standing above him. Green kicked Lance's leg and said "It's cute how you two get along, but it's time to get up now. We have a mission to do."

The first stage of the mission went perfectly. Lance sniped the few soldiers who came near them (just stunning them, of course) and Green was able to not only get them in without being detected, but also download and give them all maps of the base, which would be extremely valuable if they needed to find the nearest exit.

After the maps were handed out, they split, making an agreement to contact the others to give them their position and status every ten minutes.

Lance did his best to keep moving so he wouldn't get caught. He would find something to plug the flash drive into, wait until he heard someone coming, then unplug it and run until he found another plug in a secure location.

His strategy worked, at least for him. Lance had no trouble doing this for hours, so he only had to listen to the others for their check-ins and check in himself.

Lance kept track of everyone's positions in his head, doing his best to move to locations where the others weren't. After some time, Lance said "Hey, when was the last time we heard from Red?"

He heard Gray's voice. "Sharp ears, Blue. Red's missed the last two check-ins."

"Red, do you hear us?" Green asked. Lance heard soft tapping from the other end that must have been Green fiddling with the technology. "Red's not responding because his communication device malfunctioned. He can hear us, but we can't hear him."

"What should we do?" Lance asked.

"Who's closest to Red?" Gray asked.

There was more tapping. Then Green answered, "Blue."

"Blue, Red, head towards the rendezvous point. Red can then check in using Blue's communicator. After that, the two of you must stay together until the end of the mission."

"Got it," Lance said. He hurried to the landing bay, careful to be as silent as possible as he maneuvered the maze that was the Galra base.

Lance turned the last corner to find a long hall. He quickly took a few steps back and peeked around the corner. Red wasn't anywhere to be seen. Lance rounded the corner and carefully made his way down the corridor, looking out for any sign of Red.

Suddenly, Red appeared, running from the other end of the hall. He was being chased by sentries.

Lance got his bayard out and activated it as he got down on his knee. He took a deep breath and aimed, then he fired at the sentries. One by one he took them out, but they kept getting closer.

Finally, when there were only a few left, Red turned and started cutting them down with his blade. Lance fired one last time, hitting the last one standing. He deactivated his bayard and ran towards Red.

"Red! Are you okay? What happened?" Lance half-asked, half-yelled.

"It's a trap, they knew about the mission!" Red yelled, "We have to get out of here–now!"

Lance spoke into his communicator. "Gray, Green, did you hear–"

Gray cut him off. "We heard Red. Everyone, get out immediately. We'll meet up at the camp. Good luck."

"You too," Lance said back.

Lance turned his attention back on Red. "Alright Red, let's go."

Lance and Red ran towards the nearest escape route. They only made it fifty feet before another crowd of sentries intercepted them. Before Lance could react, Red said "Cover me."

"What-" Lance started, then he watched as Red ran directly at the sentries, taking them down one after another. Lance got his bayard out and helped Red.

By the time the last sentry was down, Lance and Red were exhausted. "Nice work, Sharpshooter," Red said in between breaths.

Lance smiled. "Not so bad yourself," he responded as he turned to face Red. Lance noticed that something was off. There was a bump on Red's shoulder. It was made of metal and blinking red and that's when Lance realized.

The bump was a bomb that was about to blow.

Suddenly, everything was in slow motion. "Red, watch out!" Lance yelled, reaching for the bomb. He was too far away. Red looked at where Lance was reaching, and wedged it off with his knife. The bomb leapt into the air between them, and it detonated as it fell.

Lance was swept off his feet and thrown away from Red. When he finally had the strength to get up, he made a beeline straight for where Red was.

"Red!" Lance yelled. He started running. As the smoke began to clear, Lance saw the shape of a crouching figure. Relief filled his body.  _Red's still in one piece. He's alive_ , Lance thought. Lance got closer and eventually was right next to Red and he saw what he was looking at.

Red was holding his helmet, the one that protected him in space, the one he needed to get back to camp, broken in his hands. A large piece of it fell to the floor.

"No..." Lance whispered. All the relief he had felt was gone. Red wouldn't be able to survive the vacuum of space without his helmet. Neither of them knew what they could do.

Red dropped what was left of his helmet and faced Lance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all excited for the new season? :3


	12. Just Stay Alive, That Would Be Enough

When Red turned, Lance saw light purple skin, ears similar to a cat's, and white hair. That's all he could see at first.

Then Lance noticed how the hair fell, particularly how the bangs fell in a familiar way that partially hid the eyes. Those eyes...Lance  _knew_  those eyes.

"Keith?" Lance asked, half-convinced he was dreaming. Red–or rather, Keith–nodded.

Lance couldn't believe it. He wanted to envelop Keith in a tight hug and never let go, but just as he was about to do so, another squad of sentries rounded the corner and started firing at them.

"Oh come on!" Lance whined as he activated his bayard again. Keith picked up his knife from where it fell and rushed to the sentries to attack up close. Lance was able to provide backup for Keith from further away. Lance hit every shot. He was not going to let Keith get hurt right after he found him.

When the last sentry fell, Lance jogged up to Keith. Keith looked at the map Green downloaded and said "More are coming. If we want any chance of escape, we have to go now."

Lance walked closer to Keith, who was still looking down, searching for the safest exit. Once Keith found one he looked up and his gaze met Lance's tear-filled eyes.

Keith was silent. Lance was struggling to keep himself from sobbing. "You're alive," Lance said with barely any breath, "You were here this whole time."

Keith took a step back and his new ears turned back and flattened against his head like a scared cat. "Please don't be angry, Lance, I-" he gulped, "-I can explain."

Lance took a step towards Keith, and Keith staggered back. Lance shook his head. Keith was afraid Lance would be mad at him. Lance rushed forward and wrapped his arms around Keith. Lance could never be mad at him, not when he was alive and in his arms.

It took a moment for Keith to realize that Lance wasn't trying to hurt him, but when he did, he melted into Lance's hug.

"I thought you were dead," Lance said, his voice cracking. "I missed you so much."

Keith took a sharp inhale that revealed that he, too, was overcome with emotions. "I'm sorry, Lance," he said, "I'm so, so sorry."

Lance pulled away just enough so he could see Keith's face. He was surprised to see Keith here, but more surprised about his change in appearance. Lance moved his hands and touched Keith's white hair. "What happened?" He asked.

"It's complicated," Keith said, looking down, "but basically I fell into a pool of pure quintessence and turned full Galra."

"Is this why you didn't message us for three weeks?" Lance asked.

Keith nodded. "Partially. But security's been getting tight, so I didn't really have a chance to call. When I did, I was so afraid of how you guys would react."

"Keith..." Lance said, wanting to say so many things and not knowing where to start.

"I know," Keith said, "but I always meant to tell you guys sometime."

"And what about the party?" Lance asked.

"Kolivan didn't know I survived. He implemented a plan on the way to prevent espionage and kidnapping for information where everyone was anonymous so you can't target a specific Blade. He told me as soon as I got there, before he saw who I was."

"That's not what I meant."

Keith looked at Lance and tilted his head, confused. "What...oh."

"You were the wallflower," Lance explained. "We talked, and you sat with me. And–" Lance cupped Keith's face with his hand, "–you kissed me."

Keith looked away and his cheeks turned a deeper purple. "Yeah, well...I missed you."

Lance couldn't hold back any more. He threw off his helmet, leaned forward, and kissed Keith.

The two of them were a mess, crying and kissing and holding on to each other as if they'd lose each other instantly if they let go.

The sound of metal feet hitting the metal floor down the hall snapped them back to reality. "Run," they said simultaneously. They smiled at each other and held hands as they escaped the sentries, remembering to grab Lance's helmet.

When they reached the exit–a small airlock–Keith and Lance stopped and looked out of it. There was a small vehicle just outside that one of them could ride back to the base on.

"My mask..." Keith whispered. Lance's heart broke when he remembered that Keith's mask was shattered somewhere across the base. "I can't go outside."

Lance shook his head. "Nope. I am absolutely not leaving you here right after I found you."

"Lance, I can't..."

Lance blocked Keith out as he searched for a solution. Then he realized that it was sitting on his head.

"Only one of us is getting out of here," Lance said. He took his helmet off and handed it to Keith. "It should be you."

Keith looked at Lance's helmet, then at Lance. "No. I won't let you do this."

"You have to," Lance begged, "Please. You're the link between Voltron and the Blade of Marmora. You're Shiro's right hand man. You have more skill in that stupid mullet of yours than everyone on team Voltron combined, for goodness sakes don't you see? You've been missing...you've been  _dead_  for so long. Don't you want to see everyone?"

Keith blinked and a tear fell from his eye. He looked straight at Lance and said "Not if it means leaving you behind."

Lance kissed Keith.  _This stupid boy_ , he thought,  _I love him, but he's too stubborn for his own good._

"Take care of Red for me, yeah?" Lance said.

"Wha–" Was all that Keith got out before Lance put the helmet over Keith's head, shoved the bayard into his hands, and pushed him out of the airlock and locked it.

Lance watched as Keith pounded on the door, demanding to be let in. Lance fogged up the window on the door and drew a little heart. Keith stopped when Lance did this and they stared at each other helplessly.

_Go_ , Lance mouthed at Keith. Keith blinked slowly, nodded, and then ran to the escape vehicle.

Lance was able to see Keith take off before something metal hit his head and he fell to the floor, unconscious.


	13. Rushed Reunion

"Lance is back," Pidge said when she noticed the Red Lion nearing the castle. It was still a ways away, but close enough that the castle sensed it.

Pidge looked over to Matt and said "You'd like him. He's just like you."

Matt smirked and said "Let me guess, he's super handsome and has big muscles?" He flexed jokingly.

Pidge rolled her eyes, but she couldn't help but smile. "You two are exactly the same."

Pidge had just gotten done showing Matt around the castle, and now they were both sitting in the lounge and talking. Hunk came in, holding a couple milkshakes.

"Thanks, Hunk," Matt said, taking the milkshakes and handing one to Pidge.

"How's Shiro, by the way?" Pidge asked. "Is he any better?"

Hunk winced. "Eh, not exactly." Shiro had gotten back from the gladiator fight before Pidge came back with Matt. Shiro wasn't able to find Keith or any information on him. He locked himself in his room, probably trying to come up with a new theory, and only came out to see Matt.

"Is he normally like this?" Matt asked.

"Oh no, never." Hunk responded.

Matt nodded. "That's what I thought. He wasn't like this before Kerberos. What exactly happened?"

Pidge and Hunk told him. Matt said he understood. He vaguely remembered Shiro mentioning Keith a few times. He knew they were close.

Then, Hunk noticed that the Red Lion was about to land in the hangar. "Oh, hey, Lance is here!" Hunk said, delighted.

"C'mon," Pidge said, setting her empty milkshake down and jumping over the side of the couch, "Let's go meet him. You two dorks will get along great."

The three of them went to the Red Lion's hangar and watched it land. However, instead of Lance running out of Red, it was Keith, wearing a Blade of Marmora outfit. He took off Lance's helmet and had the red bayard in his other hand.

"We have to–" Keith started to say, but he was interrupted when Pidge and Hunk tackled him with a hug. The three of them ended up on the ground, and Pidge and Hunk were crying. Keith knew there was no point of trying to get out of it. It was easiest just to accept their hug and let them calm down.

All of the sudden, Shiro and Allura joined. Matt had left to find them as soon as he saw Keith.

"Guys, I-" Keith started to say. He wasn't comfortable with this many people crowding him for so long. He was being crushed. "I'm running out of air," he got out.

Finally, everyone let go of Keith, each saying their version of "I thought you were dead, I'm glad you're back, what happened to your face and hair, etc." Keith pretended he was paying attention to all of them, but all he could think about was how much time he was wasting.

"So...where's this Lance guy?" Matt asked. "Pidge told me he was the one who piloted the Red Lion."

"He does," Keith explained, "but something happened on the mission he went on." Keith explained everything, excluding some very personal details that weren't important to the mission. "We have to get there before something happens to him."

Not long after, the Paladins were in their Lions, on their way to the Galran Hub. When they got there, there were no defenses. They could just walk right in, so they did.

"The place is completely abandoned," Pidge said after scanning it. "No life forms, there's not even any electricity. Lance isn't here anymore."

Keith wanted to punch the wall, but held back in case he had to use his hand to fight. "Pidge, can you hack this place and see where everyone went?" He asked.

"I'll see," Pidge responded.

Everyone made their way to the main control room, where they restored power to the main computer. Pidge was able to successfully access and decrypt the files that remained on the computer, scanning for anywhere Lance could be.

"You're not gonna like this," Pidge said, turning. "Lotor has Lance."


	14. It Feels Easier to Just Swim Down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, now would be a good time to remind y'all that I wrote the majority of this fic's plot before season 5 came out, so Lotor's character might be different (because we hadn't seen him a lot when I wrote him) and how Project Kuron works is pretty different. So no worries if you haven't seen season 6 yet, there are no season 6 spoilers :)

Lance woke up on a cold, concrete-like floor with no idea how he got there. He ran through what he did remember: he went on a mission, Keith turned full galra, he kissed Keith, he made Keith leave without him, and then he got knocked out. Lance hoped Keith was able to make it back to the castle safe and sound.

Lance sat up slowly, expecting a huge concussion from being hit over the head, but he felt fine. It was almost as if he had been in a healing chamber. Scratch that, it was exactly like he'd been in a healing chamber.  _Whoever has me,_ Lance thought _, they want me alive and unhurt. That's a good sign._

Lance looked around at his surroundings. He was in some kind of cell–complete with those stereotypical bars–that was big enough for him to lie fully extended on the floor without touching the walls. The cell was completely bare. Lance peered through the bars and saw only a long hallway. There weren't any other cells around him, so it wasn't a prison ship. There wasn't much light coming from the hallway, but it was enough that Lance could just barely make out his surroundings.

Suddenly, Lance heard footsteps coming down the hall. He stood up to be ready for whoever it was that captured him. He needed to be ready for anything. He was preparing himself to run, or fight, or play dead. It all depended on what was coming his way.

There was a tall figure standing in front of Lance, who remained hidden by the lack of lighting. The tall figure spoke in a familiar deep, calm voice, saying, "So the Blue Paladin of Voltron has finally woken up." A moment of silence passed before the figure walked a few feet to turn on the lights.

"Lotor," Lance spat.  _Of course it's Lotor,_ he silently complained _, why would the universe take it easy on me?_

Lotor smiled. "Ah, so you can talk. Just as I'd hoped. Maybe you could tell me why I have the honor of capturing you on such a minuscule mission compared to Voltron's previous feats."

Lance shrugged, saying, "I probably could, I just don't really feel like it." He didn't want Lotor finding out that Voltron scattered the day before.

"Well then, Blue, would you tell me why Voltron chose you, of all the Paladins, to go on this mission?" Lotor asked, "or why you were left there?"

Lance looked away. He wasn't left there. He stayed to save Keith.

"Oh, a bit of a touchy subject, isn't it?" Lotor suggested. "Perhaps it was because you're the most expendable."

"Oh, definitely," Lance said, looking at Lotor again. Then Lance turned around, embarrassed. Or, rather, pretended to be embarrassed.

Lance knew what Lotor's game was now. He was trying to get Lance to join him. He was poking lance, trying to find his insecurities and any negative feelings he had about Voltron or its other Paladins. Lotor was going to try to drive Lance away from Voltron by convincing him that they didn't want him. Lance was going to play along for as long as he could.

"You sound so certain...why?" Lotor asked with concern.

Lance shrugged. "I mean, just... I'm just the flirt on the team?"

Lotor nodded. "I can see that."

Lance continued, rambling, "I think that's all anyone knows me as. Which sucks, because everyone else is really good at something useful, like hand to hand combat, or computer junk, or whatever, and I'm mediocre at everything. Even when I flirt I get rejected. It's the thing I'm known for and I'm not good at it. There's also the fact that I never have good ideas. Or ideas that are anything but terrible." Lance stopped talking and started tearing up. He made a mental note to thank his older sister for getting him to go to drama club so he could cry on command.

Lance sighed, wiped the tears away, and laughed. "I can't believe I'm doing this," he said. "I mean, Paladins should be strong, right?"

Lance rambled on after that, and Lotor stoped him a few times, telling Lance that the other Paladins were being selfish or that they were in the wrong.

"Then there's how I got left," Lance said, wrapping up his insecurities, "The guy I was with broke his helmet. Then he stole my helmet and my bayard and made a break for it."

"You were stranded," Lotor concluded, a hint of sadness in his voice. Lance nodded. Lotor said "It's a miracle you're still with them, if I were you I'd have taken an escape pod back to my home planet."

Lance rubbed his neck. "Yeah, I may have tried that." He didn't, but he'd be lying if he said he'd never thought about it before. "They caught me and yelled at me for 'abandoning the universe' or whatever. After that they started trying to get rid of me because they thought I wasn't taking Voltron seriously."

"That's awful," Lotor said. Then his face softened, and he looked at Lance fondly. "They don't deserve you, Blue."

Lance looked away. "Thanks," he muttered.

Lotor then said "I have certain duties that I must attend to now, but I'll be back to chat with you some more after they're taken care of."

Lance smiled gratefully at Lotor as he left. Lance sat down, his back against the wall, and he thought about what he had just discussed. Yes, he believed he was the most expendable and least talented, but he also knew that everyone would notice he was gone and try to get him back.

At the very least, he knew Keith would.


	15. Boredom is Stupid

Once again, Lance found himself thanking Veronica for dragging him to drama club. There's no way he could fool Lotor for as long as he did otherwise.

Lotor stopped by often, and Lance was relieved to have something to occupy his mind. It was so boring in the cell, and there was no way to keep track of time. Lotor would see that relief and assume that Lance was starting to crack from isolation. Lance let him assume. Eventually Lotor decided he wanted to truly be face-to-face with Lance, so he unlocked the cell door and let himself in. Lance would have found it comforting if he didn't know that every move Lotor made was calculated.

Everything he told Lotor was something he had worried about, that way it was real. A kind of method acting. However, it didn't mean that Lance was still bothered by it to the extent that he made it seem.

"There's enough people who can form Voltron. They don't need me," Lance would say. He didn't mention that when he brought it up with someone who probably hated him, he was told to not worry. As it turned out, he didn't need to. In fact, Keith was willing to stay behind so Lance could pilot Red.

"I have nothing going for me," Lance said, "I'm just the sharpshooter, and I had to give myself that nickname." Lance said nothing about how hard he trained to ensure that he rarely missed, or that others have recognized his skill.

Sure Lance had insecurities. Sure he doubted himself more often than not. However, the act he put on for Lotor was so exaggerated that it was oddly therapeutic, in a way. Lance saw how false his anxieties were. It was a bonus. Lotor thought that Lance was collapsing in self hatred, when in reality, Lance was feeling more secure than he'd been in a long time. Especially since he knew that Keith was alive and that he'd be searching for him. Keith had never been one to give up.

Lotor gave Lance a look of pity and tenderness. "If only they could know of your value as I do, Blue," Lotor said softly. He brushed Lance's bangs out of his face and let his hand rest, cupping Lance's cheek. Lance closed his eyes and leaned into Lotor's hand.

Lotor smiled with the guise of fondness. He leaned forward to put his lips right up to Lance's ear and Lance inhaled sharply. "I must go," Lotor whispered, " but I'll be back soon." He took his hand away and moved out of the cell.

He didn't lock the door.

Lance waited a few minutes to make sure that Lotor was gone before releasing the breath he didn't realize he was holding. He went to the door to see if it was actually unlocked. Sure enough, it opened with hardly any effort.  _Alright_ , Lance thought,  _Lotor either trusts me enough to stay here or he doesn't care if I leave_.

Lance decided he would stay. He didn't know what was waiting for him beyond the hall. Staying would be safer, and he might get some pity points. He didn't know how long it would be before Keith would come, so the longer he could convince Lotor he was submissive, the better.

Now, with nothing to do but wait again, Lance curled up in the farthest corner from the door and fell asleep.


	16. Lance Can Be Patient If He Wants To Be

Lance woke up to the sound of the cell door opening.

"That's odd, I thought I had locked this door," Lotor mumbled. He turned to Lance and spoke clearly. "Blue, did you know about this?"

Lance looked up at Lotor, doing his best to look as small as possible. "Yes," he answered in a weak voice.

"And you didn't escape?" Lotor asked, walking into the cell. Lance looked at the ground and shook his head. Lotor crouched in front of Lance and raised Lance's chin up to make eye contact. "Why didn't you?"

Lance looked into Lotor's eyes. For being Voltron's new arch enemy, he was way too good looking. Some kind of mix between beautiful sand handsome. Lance would openly admit that. Did that mean he was going to betray Voltron and pass on Keith?

No, Lance wasn't an idiot. Voltron was fighting to break up a tyrannical empire, and Lance would die to free the universe from its grip. As for Keith, well, Lance had been suppressing his feelings for the guy since the Garrison. There wasn't any chance he would be giving up on Keith any time soon.  _Besides_ , Lance thought,  _he's looking for me right now. Any minute he'll be here and take me away from this purple b–_

"Blue?" Lotor said. Lance must have been spacing out. "Why didn't you leave?"

"Why should I?" Lance asked. "There's no way I'd get that far. Even if I did, Voltron wouldn't take me back after this. I'm a liability."

Lotor didn't say anything. He just stood up and left, shooting a sympathetic glance at Lance on his way out.

Lotor didn't even close the door all the way.

Lance doubted that Lotor went very far. He stood up and closed the door, and just as he expected, Lotor came in once he heard the noise.

"Why don't you run?" Lotor asked, perplexed. "I even left the door open."

"Did you want me to?" Lance asked, fully knowing that the answer was  _yes_. "I... sorry. All I know is that I'm a prisoner. I messed up and I'm being punished."

Lotor shook his head and embraced Lance. "You must be so confused. I did mean for you to leave, I'm sorry. I should have made it more clear."

Lotor then guided Lance through the ship, turning seemingly at random.  _Man_ , he thought,  _for the empire that took over the entire universe, you'd think their organization skills would be a bit better._

Lotor stopped in front of a large door. It was decorated and had an alien language written on it in large characters. "These are my quarters, Blue," Lotor said, opening the door. "You're not a prisoner any longer."

Lance looked around the room in amazement. It was definitely a room fit for a prince. Lance walked over to the bed and felt the purple bedspread. It was carefully embroidered with gold thread.

Lance turned to Lotor, who was watching him with delight. "Please, make yourself at home," Lotor said. "Feel free to explore the rest of the ship as well. I'll be on the main deck, but let anyone know if you need me and I'll come find you."

Lotor took Lance's head in his hands and pressed a soft kiss against his forehead. Then he left.

Lance figured that Lotor probably bugged the room somehow, so he probably shouldn't be snooping around for a possible escape or a weapon. Lance flopped down on Lotor's bed and did a simple scan of the room.

Lance noticed a window that led to the outside and an idea popped into his head. In order to let Voltron know where he was, he would signal SOS using Morse code. Lance took the curtains in his hands and tried opening and closing them. He smiled. It was easy. He could do this.

Lance took a deep breath and started signaling. If Lotor came rushing in, Lance could say it was a tradition in his home planet or a game he played with his siblings. Lance stared out the window.  _Come and find me, Keith_ , he thought,  _I'm waiting for you._


	17. Shiro's A Little OOC. I Wonder Why?

"What are you doing?"

Lotor entered the room when Lance was in the middle of what had to be his hundredth signal. Lance turned around and slouched, making himself look ashamed. Lotor walked to the window and peered out, then closed the curtains. He then turned to Lance.

"Well?"

Lance looked down at the floor and started rubbing his arm. "N-nothing," he muttered. "It was just something I used to do at home." Lance teared up, for real this time. He always did when he remembered his family. "It was something I did with my nieces. They... they would get so scared during storms and I did this to calm them."

Lotor smiled sympathetically and stroked Lance's cheek. "My dear Blue," he said, taking hold to Lance's waist and moving closer, "if you felt any fear, you should have called for me."

Lance realized it was the perfect opportunity to feign total dependence on Lotor. He wrapped his arms tight around Lotor and buried his face in Lotor's chest. Lance couldn't lie, hugging Lotor was a great feeling. He felt so much comfort from doing it. He couldn't wait to get back to Voltron and wrap his arms around the people he loved.

Lotor pulled away slightly and said "Why don't you come to the main deck with me, I'm sure you'll feel better."

Lotor led Lance through another set of confusing turns and doors until they got to the main deck. Lotor sat down in the commanding chair and motioned for Lance to sit next to him. Lance sat on the floor at Lotor's feet and leaned into him.

All there was left to do was wait for Keith to find him.

*

All Keith thought about was getting to Lance. He almost left the rest of the team behind several times because he forgot that Red was faster than them. Each time he was tempted. Then he remembered that they had a better chance of getting Lance back with all the lions and he slowed.

Everyone was asking him questions, which was fair; after all, he  _did_  accidentally fake his death. However, Keith had never liked being the center of attention. He didn't know how to handle it, especially when all he cared about was saving Lance. He simply didn't answer anyone's questions. There would be time for that later.

However, there was something poking at the back of his mind. Lance had told him how Shiro had been leading. Keith didn't want to believe it. He'd known Shiro longer than anyone; Shiro would never treat Lance-never treat  _anyone-_ like Lance had described.

Now Keith had seen it with his own eyes. Pidge had fallen behind the other lions for the third time, which meant they all had to slow down again. Keith couldn't believe what he heard with his own ears.

"Sorry Shiro, I thought I saw something," Pidge said. "Again."

Shiro took a deep breath and sighed harshly. Keith shuddered. It reminded him of when Iverson passive-aggressively reprimanded him. It wasn't a good reminder.

"Pidge, you need to be more focused with the task at hand," Shiro said, his voice low and stern.

"I was," Pidge exclaimed, frustrated. "I thought I saw-"

Shiro interrupted her. "But you didn't." His voice had risen. Keith hated it.

Pidge huffed, clearly frustrated.

Allura chimed in. "Shiro, I'm sure Pidge was doing her best," she said, more for Pidge than for Shiro. "We've been traveling for a long time, and she's still so young. When I was her age I wouldn't have been able to focus for this long. It's only natural that she-"

"Katie is a defender of the universe, and she needs to act like it!" Shiro shouted.

Everyone went silent. Pidge turned off her comms one-way, so she could hear them but they couldn't hear her. Keith furrowed his brow.  _This is wrong._

Keith opened up a two-way comm to Pidge. She answered and her face showed up on his screen. She was frozen. Her eyes were staring off into nothing and she was barely breathing. She was piloting Green on instinct alone. Her thoughts must have been millions of miles away.

"Pidge," Keith breathed. "Are you... are you okay?"

Pidge didn't respond for a moment, then slowly shook her head. Keith couldn't stand this.

"Is there some kind of autopilot on these lions?" Keith asked, "Can you get Green to follow Red?"

Pidge was still. She finally breathed in and nodded, apathetically pushing buttons and flipping switches. A little icon of a green lion head lit up on Keith's screen.

"Alright." Keith was so glad Pidge studied these lions. "Pidge, take a break from this. I'll shut this comm down and tell you if something happens, okay?"

Pidge gave Keith a faint smile, then nodded. Keith turned off the comm and sighed with relief. Now, he had his attention back on Shiro. He didn't know what happened since he left, and Lance sounded like he didn't either. As soon as he found Lance, Keith would find out what happened to Shiro and fix it.

*

Lance had been staring at the stars for some time before Lotor stood up and beckoned for Lance to follow him.

"I've been meaning to show you this," Lotor said, passing room after room, "but understand that I first needed to know that you would be loyal to me."  
  
Lance cocked his head. "Have I disappointed you?" He asked.

Lotor turned and stroked Lance's cheek. "No, not at all. You've been perfect."

Lance guessed that they must have been in the middle of the ship by now. There weren't any guards here, only sentries. He watched and followed as Lotor passed through locked door after locked door, his curiosity mounting until Lotor stopped in front of the final door.

"I brought you here because I need your help," Lotor explained. "If you could, I would be extremely grateful."

Lance glanced at the door. Honestly, he was terrified. He had no idea what to expect. "Anything," Lance said.

Lotor opened the door and Lance almost screamed.

It was Shiro.


	18. Save Our Shiro

Lance stared at Shiro. He was strapped to some kind of medical bed and was hooked up to all kinds of machines. His hair was long, as if it hadn't been cut for months. Maybe years. Lance thought he was dead until he saw Shiro's chest rise and fall. Then he saw Shiro's face twitch, as if he was having a nightmare.

Lotor placed his hand on Lance's shoulder and spoke. "We've been using him for a long time." 

"What... is he?" Lance asked.

"This is your friend," Lotor explained. "We found him soon after Voltron attacked Zarkon's main base. He was unconscious, but was otherwise fine. We knew we could use him, and eventually we found a way to use his DNA to infiltrate Voltron."

"So..." Lance didn't know what to make of this. "The Shiro back with the Paladins is some sort of clone?"

Lotor smiled at Lance. "That's exactly right, but there's more." He reached over to a tablet and turned it on. On the tablet was a view of the inside of the Black Lion's cockpit. Lotor tapped a button and Lance could hear his friends. Lotor explained, "For the most part, we've been using him for surveillance, and then we realized that with the real Shiro here, we could destroy Voltron from the inside out."  
  
Lance's face drained of all its blood. They had been watching us. For more than a year they'd had all of the Voltron Coalition's plans right in front of them. "What do you mean, destroy Voltron?"

"You've explained how Shiro has been acting strangely, yes?" Lotor asked. Lance nodded. "This is the reason for it. We're using his mind to slowly change the clone's behavior and disrupt Voltron."

Lance wished he didn't believe it, but it made too much sense. Just then, he heard Shiro's voice come out of the screen. Lance jumped. Shiro was yelling at Pidge for getting distracted. After that, silence.

"Do you see how this works?" Lotor asked.

"Yeah," Lance said, watching Shiro wince.  _He's in pain._  "Yeah, I do. What do you need me here for?"

Lotor sighed and said "Well, when our clone goes to sleep, this one tends to thrash out. Lately he's had an awful habit of waking, and he hasn't been too pleased about the situation. We've given him a substance that puts him back to sleep, but we don't want to rely on that. I ask you to do your best to calm him when he wakes. Can you do that for me?"

Lance looked to Shiro again, then looked at Lotor and nodded.

*

After showing Lance the real Shiro, Lotor took him back to his room.

"You must be starving after such a long day. Should I get you something to eat?" Lotor asked Lance. Lance shook his head. "No appetite, oh well. If you change your mind, come find me and I'll help you." Lotor left the room.

Lance didn't know what to do. Keith hadn't come yet, and by the conversation Shiro's clone picked up, they weren't close. Getting off the ship was hard enough, but now Lance also needed to get the real Shiro back to the castle.

Lance walked to the curtains, signaled until he couldn't move his arms, then left to talk to Shiro.

*

Keith checked up on Pidge for the third time. He knew that he promised to give her space to relax, but he needed to know how she was doing. She hadn't answered his other two calls, and Keith was getting more and more worried by the minute. Luckily, she answered this time.

Pidge's eyes were red and her cheeks were wet, but she was breathing normally again. She wiped the tears off her face and sighed. Giving Keith a weak smile, she said, "Thanks, Keith. I'm fine now." Keith offered her a smile of his own and Pidge opened her comms again. Nobody said anything in response to her doing so, but Keith had the sneaking suspicion that Hunk called her privately.

Another half hour of silence followed. Everyone was just driving their lions in the same direction as fast as they could.

Suddenly, Pidge exclaimed, "I knew I didn't just imagine it!" Pidge sent a video feed on everyone's screens. "Everyone, check this out: Green found this one super faint blinking light coming from some kind of ship. Anyone notice anything weird?"

Keith squinted his eyes. Stars twinkled, but this light was... regular. It was blinking a pattern. Keith's eyes shot open as he realized what they were.

"S.O.S.?" Hunk asked. "Why would an alien ship call for help with an Earth signal? Unless-"

"Lance," Keith choked. "It's him. He's calling us." Keith was holding back tears.  _Lance is alive._

"Alright team, let's go get him!" Shiro exclaimed, following Pidge's lion in the direction of the signal.

"S.O.S.?" Allura asked. "Sauce? I don't understand."

Pidge explained "Well, on Earth, we developed this kind of language where we use a system of dots and dashes, or short and long sounds, or short and long bursts of light. Different combinations of 'dits' and 'dahs' correspond with the different letters. A long time ago, we came up with a universal distress code that anyone could use if they were in trouble. It happened to be the same signal as the letters 'S,' 'O,' and 'S,' so we just remember S.O.S. if we're in trouble."

Allura took a moment to think about the information and said "I'm impressed. Altea never even thought about doing that, we just used programmed distress signals. Although, that would be helpful if one lost power or was without a ship."

The conversation continued, and Keith was grateful for the lack of silence for once. Not only that, but he was so close to finding Lance. Keith smiled. He was going to save his boyfriend.


	19. Lance Pieces Together a Plan

Lance sat next to Shiro for half an hour before he showed any signs of waking up. Shiro had been writhing in his sleep as if he was experiencing excruciating pain. Lance wanted nothing more than to wake Shiro from his nightmare, but no matter what he did, Shiro stayed unconscious. Lance had no choice but to wait.

Lance glanced at the tablet and turned the audio on. The sounds of playful banter filled the room and Lance couldn't help but smile. He missed his friends.

Suddenly, the view on the screen started to fade. Shiro's thrashing against his restraints increased. Lance heard his friends' voices rise in concern, fading with the view of the Black Lion.

"Shiro!" Lance heard Pidge scream, then he heard nothing but silence. Just as he shifted his gaze from the screen, Shiro jolted awake and gasped.

"Let me go!" Shiro pleaded, "Get me out of here. Let me out!" Shiro pulled on his restraints and cried out. Lance's heart shattered watching his leader-his _friend-_ so helplessly broken.

Lance reached out and took hold of Shiro's left hand. Shiro's head snapped to look up at Lance. "Shiro," Lance said through tears, "Shiro, it's me - it's me, Lance. It's going to be okay."

Shiro's face immediately softened. "Lance," he said, "I'm so sorry, I-"

Lance interrupted him. "I know it wasn't you," he said. Lance started loosening Shiro's restraints. "Come on, it won't be long before Lotor figures out I'm helping you escape."

Lance helped Shiro stand, but then Shiro grimaced and fell back onto the bed. Lance immediately moved to make sure Shiro wouldn't hit his head when he fell.

The screen began to glow and Lance heard the familiar voices of his panicked friends, all yelling for Shiro. Lance watched as the clone said that their mission was hopeless and said it wouldn't be worth it. The real Shiro started writhing in pain, and Lance had no idea what to do except to hold Shiro in his arms in an attempt to comfort him.

"We're not leaving Lance."

Lance looked up at the clone's view. Voltron had broken up and Keith's furious face appeared on the Black Lion's screen. Pidge's face joined Keith's and she said "I found the ship the message was on, and it's definitely Lotor's. It's only a couple minutes away. Even if Lance wasn't there, it would be worth it to see what Lotor's been up to."

Keith had disconnected and started flying in the direction of Lotor's ship. The clone started an exclamation, but the connection was lost and he was interrupted. The real Shiro gasped and woke up, hugging Lance tight.

"They'll be here any minute," Lance whispered. He stroked Shiro's back in an attempt to comfort him. To Lance's surprise, it seemed to be working. Shiro's breathing was becoming more regular. "It's okay Shiro, they're coming," Lance muttered. "It'll be over soon."

Lance looked around the room once more, looking for anything they could use as they escaped. There wasn't anything he could really use, at least nothing that wasn't bolted down. Lance tried to remember if there were any escape pods, but no, they were in the exact center of the ship. There was no quick and easy way out.

Lance pondered for a moment, but his thoughts were interrupted by the ship jolting.  _Keith?_

Shiro started to wake, and  Lance knew he only had a few seconds to figure out a plan.

"Shiro, get back on the bed," Lance said. "I'm gonna make the restraints look like they're working. If anyone comes in, catch them by surprise, Okay?" Lance waited for Shiro to nod, signaling that he understood. Lance then did what he said and locked the door from the inside.

Lance then started running to the main deck. He was about to give the performance of a lifetime.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about updating less often! I’m starting to get to the part I haven’t written yet, so I’m not exactly sure how long it’ll be between updates, but I’ll do my best to write fast!


	20. Lance's Best Performance Yet

When Lance finally found his way, he peeked in, scanning the room, doing his best to look terrified in case he was seen. As he looked, he saw Lotor calmly directing his subordinates to get their attacks ready, but to hold their fire until they established a connection with the attackers.

"Lotor, the ship shook, what's happening?" Lance asked, rushing towards Lotor.

Lotor smiled. He cupped Lance's cheek and said "Don't fret, dear Blue. It's only a minor blow, nothing to be worried about." Lance reached up to grab Lotor's hand and nodded. "We will be safe, do not fear. Here, sit next to me, and I'll personally ensure your safety." Lance sat down at Lotor's feet and leaned into him. Lance closed his eyes and did his best to relax as much as he could. With everything that had just happened and will happen soon, he needed time to clear his thoughts.

However, Lance didn't have much time to relax. Lotor opened communications with their attackers and two faces appeared on the screen in front of him. Lance still didn't open his eyes. He didn't want to risk breaking character.

Lotor spoke in his calm, almost seductive, voice. "Ah, the Red and Green Paladins. Here to surrender your Lions?"

"In your dreams," Keith shouted at Lotor. "You have one of our Paladins. Give him back or we'll attack!"

Lotor chuckled. "Oh, you mean dear old Blue?"

Lance sat up when Lotor mentioned him. He opened his eyes and choked on his breath when he saw Keith and Pidge. He had missed them both so much. He wanted nothing more than to tell them this, but he couldn't or else his cover would be blown.

"Lance?"

Lance's heart broke. Keith was looking at Lance, a strange mixture of relief, confusion, and fear coming over Keith.  _He has no idea what's going on. I'm so, so sorry, Keith._

Lance stiffened. Lotor saw this and stood up, placing Lance in his seat and standing in front of him, as if protecting him.

"Lance, are you alright?" Pidge asked. "What's going on?"

"Give Lance back," Keith demanded. 

Lotor sighed. "I can do no such thing," he said. "Blue's safety is my first and foremost concern, and I cannot let him go back to such a toxic environment."

Keith and Pidge went back and forth with Lotor a few more times, throwing threats into the mix. Lance knew if he was going to say anything, he had to do it now.

Lance took a deep breath and yelled "Stop, stop it, I can't take it anymore!" Lotor turned around and looked at Lance, his expression softening.

"I..." Lance started. He had no idea how he was going to get this out. "I don't want to go back with you." Keith and Pidge gave him stunned looks. "Lotor's the only one who ever treated me decent - the only one who thought that I was more than a joke." Lance looked down at the floor.

"Lance," Pidge said, "I'm so sorry you ever felt that way. Please come back, we miss you."

Keith interrupted Pidge and said "There's no way I'm leaving here without you. I've only been back for ten minutes and already it's obvious how much you contribute to the team. We're falling apart, Lance. We need you, Lance." Keith swallowed. "I need you."

Lance was going to cry. He so badly wanted to tell Keith that he was lying. He wanted to hold Keith and tell him how much he loved and missed him. He needed to tell them it was all an act.

"Lies," Lotor hissed at them. "You only want him back because you realized how useful he was in his absence. You only want to use him, you have no care for him." Lotor turned back to Lance and said "However, in the end, it's your choice, Blue."

Lance looked straight at Pidge and Keith, blinking the same pattern he sent out to them when he was waiting in Lotor's room, hoping they would notice and understand. "I'm staying with Lotor," he said, still blinking.  _Please understand_.

Pidge caught on and joined in on his act. "You won't get away for betraying us, Lance," She said. "Keith, come on, let's get Voltron and show Lance what exactly he turned his back on." Pidge cut off communications.

Lotor immediately said "Fire on the Lions." He then held Lance's cheek in his and said "Don't worry. I will never let them get you"

Lance looked up at Lotor and smiled. "I know you won't," he said.

The ship shook again. "Sir," an officer called, "Two more Lions have arrived."  
  
"Fire at will," Lotor ordered.

Two lions, plus Pidge and Keith. That means one lion isn't here yet, Lance thought. That must be the clone, who probably blacked out again. Which means that Shiro...

"Lotor?" Lance asked in his smallest voice. He made himself shed fake tears. "I'm scared."

Lotor's glance softened. "Of course. Would you like to return to my quarters?" he asked. Lance nodded. "I cannot leave my station, but I will send an escort to ensure your safety." Lotor smiled and pressed his lips against Lance's head. Lance smiled and went with the escort.

Lance followed the escort until he was certain nobody could see them. Lance attacked the escort, surprising him enough to knock him over. Lance grabbed for the escort's weapon and smacked the butt of the gun against his head, knocking him out. Lance ran off to get Shiro, knowing that it was only a matter of time before Lotor knew what he had done. Lance ran down corridor after corridor, hoping he was going the right way.


	21. Lance and Shiro Fight (Together)

Lance dashed around corner after corner, scanning for signs that he was going the right way. When he started seeing sentries on the ground with scorch marks across their armor, he figured that he was. "Shiro?" Lance called out. He didn't want to sneak up on Shiro when he was fighting for his life. "Shiro, it's Lance," he said. Lance rounded a few more corners before he ran into Shiro.

"Lance," Shiro said, relieved, but straining to speak. "Th-the other one, he's-" Shiro suddenly gasped in pain and fell to his knees. Lance rushed over to him and fell in front of him.

"Shiro, it's-you're gonna be okay." Lance took Shiro's head in his hands. "Listen, we're gonna make it out of this."

"He's taking over," Shiro rasped. "I-he's killing me, I'm losing-" Shiro's voice trailed off and his eyes began to close.

Lance shook Shiro's head. "Come on Shiro, don't give up now," Lance pleaded, tears forming in his eyes.  _I am not losing Shiro when I just found him._  "Shiro, listen to me." Shiro's eyes opened again, and Lance breathed a sigh of relief. "You with me?" he asked. Shiro slowly nodded. "Okay. You're gonna win. Breathe. Focus. I'm gonna get us out of here."

"I'm doomed," Shiro said weakly, with a half smile on his face. Lance laughed for the first time in a long time, and he knew Shiro was going to be fine.

The guards entered the hall. "Prince Lotor, the prisoners-" The first guard started before being cut off by the gun Lance stole. Lance shot the other guards before they could react.

"We've gotta move," Lance said, helping Shiro to his feet. "Can you walk?" He asked. Shiro attempted to take a step on his own, but his dizziness caught up to him and he almost fell. "Well, that answers that," Lance muttered. "Just lean on me, okay? I'll get us out of here." Lance stumbled off in the direction of the escape pods, carrying Shiro with one arm and readying his gun with the other.

*

Shiro screamed out in pain again. The Black Lion had been stationary for the duration of the battle, its pilot unable to take the controls. Hunk and Allura had been hovering over him, protecting him from the fighters who saw the opportunity to take down the Black Lion.

Keith and Pidge had been doing most of the real damage. Lotor's ship had been leading a small fleet, so the two of them had their hands full. They also had to be careful to avoid doing damage to Lotor's ship. Lance was still on there.

The sound of Shiro's cries rang in Keith's ears once again, and this time Allura's joined in. "He's dying," She called out in fear. "Quiznack, Shiro's dead. The Black Lion just spit him out."

*

As Lance guided Shiro towards where he thought the escape pods might be, he noticed that Shiro was needing to lean on him less and less, and his breathing was gradually becoming less strained. Soon, he was running along with Lance. "You good?" Lance asked, a bit worried. He didn't really know what to do in this situation. He didn't know if this was some kind of adrenaline rush or if Shiro was actually getting better.

"For now, yeah," Shiro said, smiling. "The Black Lion helped me. The other one's gone." Lance smiled up at him, and the two of them reached the escape pod.

"Are you going to be okay flying?" Lance asked, launching the pod and aiming for the Black Lion. He could tell that Shiro was already exhausted.  _Understandable_ , he thought.  _He was fighting for his life. He must not have much energy left_.

"I don't think so," Shiro muttered as they approached the Lion. He placed his hand on Lance's shoulder. "I'm going to need your help."

*

The Black Lion shook to life after launching Shiro. Keith had immediately changed course when he heard Shiro was dead, rushing towards the Lion. He was so confused.  _Why would the Black Lion reject Shiro? Why was he dying? How could I have stopped this..._

Hunk was the first one to notice the escape pod flying towards the Lions. "That might be Lance, don't shoot it," Keith warned.

The Black Lion flew towards the escape pod and opened its mouth, securing the pod inside of it. Almost immediately, it turned to face the other Lions and a comm opened up, showing Lance's exhausted face in the pilot's seat, Shiro sitting in the background, not moving. "Hey guys," Lance said casually. The other Paladins shouted all at once, telling of their relief that he was back andasking for answers. "Look, I don't have time to explain right now, but that wasn't Shiro that just died. The real one is with me." Lance gestured back to the sleeping Shiro. "He's kinda been through a lot."

Keith smiled more now than he had in a long while. "You're back," was all that Keith managed to get out. Lance smiled up at Keith on the display.

"Okay team, it's been pretty weird, but let's save the reunion for after we show Lotor what Voltron is made of. You guys up for it?"

"Yeah!" The four other pilots yelled in unison.

"Alright," Lance said, grinning. Keith's heart swelled when he heard Lance's next words. 

"Let's form Voltron!"


	22. The Aftermath

When Lance touched down in the Castle of Lions, he could finally breathe a sigh of relief. He got out of his chair and looked at Shiro, who was still unconscious.  _He's not doing too well,_ Lance thought.  _I need to get him to a healing pod soon._

Lance lifted Shiro and did his best to drag him painlessly out of the Black Lion. It was a slow and difficult process, and Lance's own exhaustion was starting to kick in already. Luckily, the rest of the team was there waiting for them along with someone who looked a lot like Pidge, ( _must be her brother,_  Lance thought) who arrived with a bed to carry Shiro to the infirmary. Keith's attention was divided between Lance and Shiro. He kept looking from one to the other, wanting to go to one of them but not knowing which one or what he would do.

Lance hadn't had the time to explain anything, and with the dizziness he felt when he walked, he wouldn't be able to anytime soon. "Shiro needs to get to a healing pod. He's been through a lot," Lance said before he was bombarded by one of Hunk's bear hugs. Hunk mumbled something Lance couldn't quite understand, but he got the message. "Missed you too, buddy." Lance replied. He felt his eyes gloss over and he laughed. He was finally safe again-finally  _home_.

At some point everyone else joined in the hug. Even Matt, who didn't know Lance. Tears were now falling freely down his face. He thought back to his performance on Lotor's ship, and how hard he had to work to make it convincing. Every insecurity he had felt was a thought that had plagued his mind for however long they'd been in space, but now, surrounded by his friends and feeling their love, every doubt in his mind was washed away.

Lance was eventually put in a healing pod next to Shiro. When he was well enough to stumble out, Keith was already at his side, helping him get his footing. When he could stand by himself, Lance looked up at Keith and met his loving gaze. He smiled. "I missed you," Lance said.

Keith choked out a laugh, tears falling down his face. Lance took Keith's face in his hands. He wiped the tears away before finally kissing Keith.

*

Lance waited for Shiro to wake up before catching everyone up with what happened. He figured that it would be easiest to explain everything at one time rather than getting the details confused between explanations. Instead, he met Matt, and the two of them together made Pidge roll her eyes more times than they could count.

When Shiro finally awoke, to everyone's surprise, Keith was the one to initiate the group hug. 

Shiro started talking first, telling of how Lotor found his body and made a clone that was programmed to disrupt Voltron. He told them that he could see through the clone's eyes, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't stop its treatment of the team. When he wasn't forced to watch the team fall apart, he was fighting against his captors, who were doing experiments on him, trying to get him to give in to their plan.

"That's when Lance found me," Shiro finished. He looked to Lance, who looked to Keith.

"Tell them about before we met up," Lance said.

Keith started with the elephant in the room - that he looked Galra. He explained how the changes came one after another, and how he wasn't sure how the team would react, which led to him calling the Castle less and less.

Keith told the team about Kolivan's order of anonymity. He was at the party, but he couldn't reveal his identity to tell them he was alive. "That's when Lance showed up," Keith said, smiling fondly at him. Lance squeezed Keith's hand, and only then did he realize that they had been holding hands this entire time. If he blushed, nobody said anything. Keith only said that Lance had talked to him for the rest of the party. Lance remembered the rest, though. Kissing Keith for the first time and promising to meet again.

Then Keith talked about him and Lance's mission. He laughed as he explained how Lance had almost immediately recognized him from the party but had no idea he was Keith. Then he talked about the mission and his broken communicator, and then about his mask shattering. Keith said that Lance had distracted him before giving him the helmet and bayard and forcing him outside. Lance and Keith shared a knowing smile.

Finally, it was Lance's turn to speak.

He told them how he woke up in a cell, fully healed. He explained how he gradually earned Lotor's trust thanks to his self-doubt and Veronica dragging him into theater. Eventually, Lance was able to get to a place where he could signal SOS. Then he was taken to Shiro and was asked to help subdue him when he woke. Lance told them about how he helped Shiro escape instead.

Nobody said anything for a few moments. After all, it was a lot to take in. Without a conversation to keep Lance from getting distracted, he started looking around the room and eventually looked down to his and Keith's intertwined hands. He felt a wave of heat wash over his body, and he knew his face was probably becoming more and more red.

Lance hadn't ever really been in a relationship before, so everything was new to him. Not the touching, necessarily. Growing up in a family as large and close as his, he was used to group hugs and people touching him. What was so special about this was that it was Keith, who rarely had physical contact with anyone that wasn't Shiro. Here he was, holding Lance's hand. Keith was holding his hand because they were together. Keith was holding hands with him because  _he loved him_. 

Lance felt a brand new wave of heat as he thought this.  _Keith loves me, and I love him_. Lance looked up from their hands and stared lovingly at Keith. After a moment, Keith noticed Lance's eyes on him and returned his gaze. Keith smiled, and Lance had never seen anything so beautiful in his life.

Somebody started talking. Lance wasn't sure who it was. A conversation started up again, and eventually everyone was leaving the room to get food. Keith and Lance followed, still having not let go of each other. They walked slowly, enjoying each other's company. For the first time in a long time, Lance was at peace.

"Hey, Lance?" Keith asked quietly. He looked away, and one of his fingers tapped nervously on the back of Lance's hand. Lance looked ahead, and the others had just entered the dining room, leaving the two of them alone in the hall. Lance stopped walking.  
  
"Yeah?" Lance asked, a little nervous himself.  _Is he uncomfortable with this? Of...us?_

Keith chewed on his lip before finally turning to Lance. "I think..." he started, then he glanced away. Lance squeezed Keith's hand reassuringly. Keith took a deep breath before finally meeting Lance's eyes. "I think...I love you," he said.

It was a while for Lance to remember how to breathe. He let go of Keith's hand and hugged him. Keith was still for a moment before melting into Lance's embrace.

"Me too," Lance whispered. "I love you too."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaand that's it! I can't believe I actually finished a long term fic, lol. It's been about a year since I started this, which is weird. It feels just like yesterday I was coming up with the first chapter.
> 
> Let me know what you thought! And please be honest! I started this fic to challenge myself. I knew it would be long and I wanted to try to improve my writing, so I published the first chapter, not knowing where it would end. Well, we're here!
> 
> Thanks to anyone who commented or gave kudos! There were some points along the way where I wasn't sure if I wanted to keep writing this, but you guys helped me out, letting me know that people wanted to hear how the rest of the story played out. Thank you all so much for reading!
> 
> Update: Hey everyone! Now that you've read this, be sure to check out Not A Participation Game -- Extended by writingbymoonlight

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Not A Participation Game -- Extended](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16349237) by [writingbymoonlight](https://archiveofourown.org/users/writingbymoonlight/pseuds/writingbymoonlight)




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